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Friday, 23 May 2014

Oh, Father Tom!

By Diana Gitau

She
woke up with a start. It was too hot for 6:00 am and her alarm clock hadn’t even
gone off yet. For the past three years, it always went off at exactly 6:00am
letting her know that it was time for her morning prayers. Nimo never missed
her prayers!

The
sun rays were shinning through the curtains, already too bright. She was late
for work! There wasn’t even enough time to say a quick prayer. She got out of
bed and checked the time on her alarm clock. 11:59pm!

Well that couldn’t be right. Nimo ran to the
living room and checked the wall clock, 11:59pm. It seemed that all the clocks
had stopped at the same time. Weird but could be that the batteries were dead.

She
got dressed and rushed through the door without taking her breakfast. Outside, streets
were completely deserted. The only car that Nimo saw seemed oddly parked. It
still had the driver’s door open and engine running like the drive had left
hurriedly. Once again, she cursed
herself for having overslept. It was stupid staying up so late watching re-runs
of Dexter. It was wrong to watch shows about serial killers but this one had
gotten her hooked. The devil was definitely behind her new addiction.
Nevertheless, Nimo had decided to watch the show and repent later. She was
still cursing her late night activities when she suddenly tripped over a pram. Next
to it was a dog leash. However, there was no dog in sight.

At
the bus stop, she realized that she had missed the morning bus. That would mean
waiting for hours until the midday bus. She looked down at the strangely
deserted road hoping to hitchhike. It was not something that she usually did
but she didn’t have any other options. She wondered why there was no traffic at
all. She had missed last night’s news. Probably there were new traffic laws and
drivers were staying off the road to avoid arrest.

Half
an hour later, she saw an old car approaching slowly, almost painfully down the
road. She hailed it down, nervous but anxious to get to the office. Slowing
down, Nimo spotted the driver. He looked shifty. Balding, tooth pick hanging
from the side of his mouth which was partially open revealing toothless gaps.
The man rewarded her with a wide toothless grin that made her skin crawl.

“Need
a lift, pretty lady?”

Everything
in her told her to stay away from the toothless man but she thought of how
furious her boss would be because of her lateness. She worked as a church Secretary
but unlike other priests, Father Tom wasn’t a nice boss. He was strict when it
came to the Bible teachings. He was always speaking of the fire and brimstone
that would come down on all sinners. He always wagged his meaty fingers at her
and screamed every time she got late or had a typing error in her reports. With
the thought of an angry Father Tom, Nimo got into the car.

“You
smell nice….like a baby…” he greeted her chuckling heartedly.

Again,
the warning bells went off and Nimo regretted getting into the car.

“What’s
a fancy lady like you doing hitchhiking, don’t you have a boyfriend?”

“Okay,
let me out of the car.”She tried to sound calm but her voice betrayed her.

“Calm
down, no-one is after you….trust me; you are definitely not my type…” he paused
briefly shifting on his seat.

“I like
them younger, un-corrupted, you know the school uniform wearing kind… you are
too old.”

A
pedophile!

Nimo wasn’t
sure whether to be relieved or follow her instincts and get out of the car. It
was still too far to walk to the church. She looked out of the window and said a
prayer asking God to watch over her.

She
had been raised well, had always been a staunch Christian, a good daughter and
a friend to many. Nimo had worked at the church for the past 6 years and
everyone liked her. She was a role model to many young women.

She
briefly wondered what people would think of her if they saw her in the car with
the toothless pedophile. Light and darkness never mix. That had always been her
motto all her life and she had always kept away from sinners. However, there
she was, with the filthy man who was now whistling to a strange tune as he
tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

The
road was completely deserted with no cars or pedestrians all the way. Near the
church, Nimo saw a parked car. It was on the side of the road, doors opened, definitely
looked as if the driver and passengers had left in a hurry. This was the second
car that looked hurriedly abandoned. It
was odd but she couldn’t think much about it. Her mind was on getting to work
and facing Father Tom.

“Thank
you, this is my stop.”

“Okay,
tomorrow same time… it’s a date!” He said sniggering.

Nimo
hurriedly walked from the car ignoring the sound of laughter behind her. At the
gate, there were also three other cars all left the same way with the doors
open. One of the cars still had its engine running.

“Hi
Nimo, really good to see you.” It was the old security guard.

Nimo wasn’t
very fond of him and had always wondered why the church never fired him. He was
a creepy old man, the kind that stared too long even after you walk past them.
There were also rumors about him and the women he spent his evenings with. You know
the kind of women who earned a living by offering all sorts of companionship to
men who could pay for it.

Nimo
quickly walked to her office knowing fully well that he was watching her. He
would probably be leering at her behind while thinking all kinds of ungodly
thoughts. He was a disgusting man.

“Its
about time you got here!” Father Tom greeted her. However, he didn’t seem as
upset as she had expected.

“Please
come into my office,” he muttered as he started walking without waiting for her
response.

“Where
did everyone go?”

“What
do you mean, Father?”

“Haven’t
you noticed…. People left…”

“I
thought it was odd that there were no people on the streets when I was coming…”

“I woke
up in the middle of the night only to realize that um… my friend…you know the
young boy that I have been mentoring…” He interrupted her watching for her
reaction.

Nimo didn’t
want to tell him that there were rumors about his mentorship of young boys.
Actually, most people didn’t believe that he was mentoring anyone.

“Yes…
I know bout him.”

“Well
I was mentoring him late last night so I asked him to stay the night at my
place…”

Oh,
Father Tom!

“Well
I woke up in the middle of the night and he wasn’t there.”

Nimo
looked at him wondering what to say. Should she ask about the boys spending
nights at his place or their alleged disappearance in the middle of the night?

“The
cook, Maria…also gone! Martin, the gardener …gone!”

Suddenly,
Nimo thought back at the oddly parked cars that she had seen along the way.
What did it all mean, could it be that….. No, that wasn’t possible!

“
Nimo, we have been left behind!” Father Tom voiced her thoughts almost at the
brink of tears.

“ No,
the righteous would never be left behind”

It didn’t
make sense. She had served in the church for six years and had faithfully
attended church since childhood. She was a good Christian and didn’t even
associate with people of darkness.

If
people had been taken in the middle of the night, they must have been the
sinners. Maybe the righteous were left behind to inherit the earth. The Jehova
Witnesses were right! The righteous would inherit the world, they had always
said!

“Nimo…
Nimo…”

The
sound of Father Tom’s voice brought her back to her new reality. If the
righteous were left behind, then why was he still around? Didn’t she just get a
ride from a pedophile, and then there was the leering security guard.

“I
always thought you were a good Christian, of course I am a priest so I am
righteous so why are we still here?”